Carbon nanotubes are the focus of intensive study for a variety of applications, for example electronics, materials science, and medicine. Carbon nanotubes can be visualized as cylinders of rolled up graphene sheets, which may be capped so as to close the tubes. Nanotubes are typically synthesized with polydisperse micrometer lengths and tend to be bundled into macroscopic ropes. However, many applications are expected to require short undamaged individual nanotubes in the range of 20 nm to 100 nm in length. The solubility of carbon nanotubes increases and makes them easier to process, e.g., into composite materials. Carbon nanotubes of particular length can be designed to penetrate biological systems or can be integrated into electronic devices where a precise length and placement on a substrate are critical.
In particular, in materials science applications, the solubility of nanotubes varies with their length, with solubility tending to increase with shorter length. Further, shorter nanotubes tend to have less effect on viscosity. Thus, it is easier to process short nanotubes into composite materials. Further, in electronics applications, short nanotubes are desirable for integration into electronic devices where tubes of precise length are placed in well-define locations on a substrate. Still further, in medical applications, short nanotubes are better able to penetrate biological systems.
Thus, there remains a need for providing a method for cutting nanotubes, in particular a method that produces nanotubes with a length less than 100 nm.